katzenstein



(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 1. L. KATZ EN$TEIN. WATER TIGHT BULKHEADDOUWR- Patented May 28, 1895.

E S M w NM 0 ATTOR N EYS (No Model.) 3 Sheets--Sheet 2. L. KATZENSTEIN.

WATER TIGHT BULKHEAD DOOR. No. 539,953. 9 Patented May'28, 1895.

M ATTORNEYJ.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

L KATZENSTEIN WATER TIGHT BULKHEAD DOOR.

Patented May 28,1895.

WITNESSES:

i lNiTED STATES PATE T Enron.

LEOPOLD 'KATZENSTEIN, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

WATER-TIGHT BULKHEAD-DOOR.

$PECIF1GATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,953, dated May 28,1895. Application filed November 21,1294. Serial No- 529,434. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LEOPOLD KATZENSTEIN,

a residentof the city, county, and State of New, York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Water-Tight Bulkhead- Doors andMechanism for Operating the Same, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description My invention'relates to water tight bulkhead doors and mechanism for operating the same, and has for its objectto produce a construction by which the water-tight bulk head doors innavigable vessels maybe readily closed either from a point in proximityto the door or from points more or less remote from the door; forinstance, the upper deck of the vessel.

To this end my invention consists of a bulk head door combined withmechanism for opening the same and holding the same open, and mechanismfor disconnecting the bulk head door from the mechanism which operatesdirectly to open it, in order that the doors may be automaticallyclosed.

My invention further consists in the construction and arrangement ofdevices hereinafter set forth and claimed.

It will be understood that in this specification I will make referencemerely to those kinds of bulk head doors which are fitted in the bulkheads of navigablevessels and are adapted to slide in a plane parallelwith and close to the bulk head and cover and uncover the aperture ordoorway formed in said bulk head, and being of such weight as to causethem to close with more or less violence when disconnected from theirsupporting mechan-j ism; but I will have it particularly under stoodthat I do not mean to limit myself to this precise form of door, asdoors which are otherwise operated may be adapted for use with themechanism which forms this part of my invention. I would also have itunderstood that the mechanism for opening the doorand the mechanism fordisconnecting the door from its opening mechanism may also My inventionwill be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, showingseveral forms of my construction, wherein- Figure 1 is an elevation of abulkhead and its door'and the operating mechanism therefor, the samebeing one form of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the construction away detail view ofanotherform of releasingmechanism. Fig. 8 is a sectional detail view ofthe upper part of the releasing-rod shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 9 is aplan view partly in horizontal section and on an enlarged scale, thesection being taken through the plate h, hereinfter referred to.

Similar lettersof reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A is a bulk head or dividingpartition of a vessel. This partition is pierced for a door-way, and oneither side of the door-way are vertical guides Cl. a within which thebulk head door works. This bulk head dooris composed of two sections (15'. These sections have mounted thereon wedges b b which co-operate withloose wedges b I) mounted upon the guides and adjusted by bolts b Thesesectionsb I) work in the guides or 0.,and sliding toward each other abutone upon the other and close the opening, the meeting. edges of thesections being beveled, as shown at b b in Fig. 4, in order to make asecure watertight joint, the wedges serving to.hold the abutting edgesfirmly together.

Carried by the section b is an arm 0, through which passes a rod D onwhich are collars c c, againstwhich thearm bears. This rod D is free torotate in the aperture in the arm 0. The lower section of this rod Dpasses loosely through a guide or bracket E mounted on the bulk head,and terminates in astirrup F carrying a roller g. The axis of thisroller g is prolonged and projects'into a groove or guide amounted uponthe bulk head. Pivoted upon the bulk head in the path of the ICO rollerg on the end of the rod is an operating mechanism therefor consisting ofa lever G, one end of which is slotted, as with a slot 9', through whichpasses a stud g carried by the door section b. The free end 9 of thelever G projects into the path of movement of the roller g. It will beobserved that as the doorsection b descends, the roller g, carried bythe rod D connected to and moving with said door-section, will abutagainst the free end 9 of thelever G, and the door-section b and itsconnected mechanism being of considerable weight, will rock the leverGon its pivot, thus raising the lower door-section in the grooves by theheft or weight of the upper section and its connected mechanism, andraising the door-section b in the guides to meet the doorsection b. Itwill be observed, however, that there is a certain amount of lost motionbetween the parts, thatis to say, the door section b musthave descendeda short distance before the roller 9 contacts with the free end g of thelever G. This distance may be variously spaced according to the roomleft aboard ship for the play of the lower door. In the drawings I showthat the section I) must have moved through one half its total movementbefore the lower door-section b begins to move; but any otherproportionate movement may be had, by regulating the distance betweenthe rod D and lever G. I would have it understood, however, that while Ihave described vertically slidingdoors and have set forth that the lowerdoor-section is moved to close the door by'the weight of the descendingupper door-section, I do not mean to thereby limit. myself to such astructure, as, for the purposes of this specification, doors sliding onhorizontal or inclined lines and impelled by independent weights orother forces besides the inherent weightof the upper door, are the fullequivalents of my vertically sliding doors.

The two door sections 19 and b constitute the bulk head door, but itwill be understood that the door may be made in a single section, ifdesired. It will also be observed that as the door section b is raised,the door-section I) will descend by its own weight and the twooppositely moving sections will uncover the aperture in the bulk head,the relative times of movements of the parts being the reverse of theirrelative movements when the sections are brought together, as beforedescribed.

I will now proceed to describe the mechanism for opening the doors,having, as before,-

particular reference to Figs. 1 and 2. This mechanism consists of thethreaded rod D provided with a gear 01' through which the rod freelyslides longitudinally but which is splined or feathered on the rod tocause the rod to turn therewith. The threaded portion D of the rodpasses through a split-nut contained within the box H. This split-nut ismade in two sections it h which embrace the rod and may be engagedtherewith and disengaged therefrom. Hung in a stirrup or bracket J,mounted on the bulk head, is a gear j which meshes with the gear 01, andwhose shaft 7' is adapted to co-operate with a handle K for turning thesame.

The operation of the door opening mechanism just described is asfollows: Supposing the nut-sections h h to be engaged with the rod D,the handle K is turned, turning also the gearj and its meshed gear dwhich also rotates the rod D. The rod D, turning and being as aforesaidthreaded and embraced and engaged by the nut contained within the box H,screws upward in the nut and is elevated bodily, carrying also withitthe door section b and allowing the door section Z) to descend by itsown weight. This is the position of the sections as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to Figs. 5 and 6, h and h are the sections of thenut contained within the box H and which embrace the threaded section Dof the rod D. These sections h h are provided with pins or studs h hwhich are entered into cam slots h 71. of a disk 71., to which isconnected a gear 7?, which is held in position by the hub h. The gear hand disk 71, are capable of rotation, which rotary movement serves thepurpose of separating the sections 72 h of the splitnut, therebyreleasing the rod D and doorsection b, which thereupon descends and bythe interaction of the rod D andlever 0 cause the section b to beelevated. The rotation of the disk and gear may be effected in variousways, the most direct being by means of a lever L which can beinserted'in the aperture Z in the gear M. For this same purpose I alsoprovide an operating rodMfreely' movable in guides N N, and to which isconnected at intervals pivoted operating levers n n, to the lowermost ofwhich is connected a float O. Carried upon the operating rod M is a rackm which meshes with the gear 7?. It will be quite obvious that alongitudinal movement of the operating rod M will cause the gear 71 tobe rotated, thereby separating the sections of the split-nut andallowing the rod D and door-section b to descend, as before stated. Thelongitudinal movement of the operating rod N may be effected by themovement of any one of the pivoted operating levers n, which operatinglevers may be located upon different decks so that the door may beclosed from numerous points more or less remote from the door. Itwillalso be observed that the closing will be done automatically should thewater rise beyond a predetermined height for, if the water should risebeyond a predetermined height, the float will be lifted, thereby rockingthe pivoted operating lever n, to which it is attached, and moving therod longitudinally.

It will, of course, be understood that the mechanism for opening thesplit-nut and releasing rod D may be variously constructed, and that thesplit-nut itself may be replaced by any other suitable two-partreleasing mechanism. In the preferred form of my invention, shown inFig. 3, the door section b, which moves in vertical guides a a, isprovided with the usual bracket 0 and rod D, which rod works in a guideE, as before described, and terminates in the usual stirrup F and rollerg. The door-section b which, as before, slides in the guides at a, isprovided with the usual stud g which works in a slot g of the usualpivoted lever G, the free end 9 projecting into the path of movement ofthe roller g, the mutual operations of the door-sections and theirrespective times of movement being the same previously described. Now,in the present case the door opening mechanism consists of a gear Pmounted upon a shaft'p which is carried in brackets p p on the guides aa.

Mounted also upon the shaft 29 is a bevel gear Q which meshes with abevel gear R carried upon a shaft 1- mounted in the bracket'19 Mountedalso upon the shaft 1" is a wheel or crank S. Mounted upon thedoor-section b is a rack T which meshes with the gear P on the shaft 19.The operation of this form of my door opening apparatus is as follows:The wheel or crank S is rotated, thereby rotating the gear R and itsmeshed gear Q, thereby rotating the gearP and raising the door section bwith its rod D, the door-section b sliding down by its own weight assoon as the pressure is taken off the free end of the pivoted operatinglever G. The door-section bis held in its elevated position by atwo-part releasing mechanism, which, in this instance, is a clutchconsisting of a member s mounted rigidly upon the shaft and the member75 held firmly from rotation but slidable laterally upon the sleeve 11upon which it is carried.

12 is a shaft carried in a bracket 1), and has mounted thereon acam-wheel o co-operating with the movable clutch member t, and agear U3which co-operates with a rack 0 carried upon the usual operating rod Mwhich is movable longitudinally and operated by means of pivotedoperating levers n (see Figs. 3 and 8), one of which levers is operatedby means of a float 0, as in the preceding example. The

operation of this form-of my construction is will permit the shaftp torotate freely, thus allowing the door-section b to descend and raise thedoor-section b, thereby closing the opening in the bulk head. When, now,it is desired to open the door, the wheel S is roin order to hold thedoor-section b in its elevated position.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7, the clutch member if is operated bymeans of pivoted levers t t and stirrup t which engages therewith. I mayalso operate this form of mechanism by a longitudinally moving operatingrod M and pivoted levern and float 0.

It may sometimes happen that the aperture in the bulk head will becomeobstructed by some large body, and the door-sections will not closetogether tightly. In order to prevent this, I provide a shieldconsisting of a plate a: lying across the threshold of the doorv andpivoted at w. This plate may also be provided with shields m which servethe purpose of keeping coal and other small obstructions out of theguides at a. It will be observed that as the door-sections closetogether, the lower section b will as it rises abut against the shield00 and will swing the same on its pivot, thus removing from the path ofthe door-sections any ordinary obstacle, such, for instance,as a manstanding in the door-way.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. The combination of a water-tight bulk head door consisting of twosections movable one toward the other and one of the said door sectionsbeing actuated by the movement of the other, mechanism for separatingthe sections and holding the same separated, and a two-part releasingmechanism for releasing the sections to permit them to automaticallycome together to cover the opening in the bulk head, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of a door-section, a rack carried thereby, a gearmeshing with the rack, mechanism for rotating the gear to raise thedoor-section, and a clutch for releasing the gear to permit the doorsection to descend automatically, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a sliding door, mechanism for opening the saiddoor, two-part releasing mechanism for releasing the door to allow thesame to close, and a longitudinally movable operating rod for operating.the releasing mechanism, substantially as de-' scribed.

4. The combination of a door, mechanism for opening the same, andreleasing-mechanism therefor, the same consisting of a clutch, togetherwith mechanism for actuating the releasing mechanism consisting of afloat, and means for actuating the releasing mechanism by the float,substantially as described.

5. The Water-tight bulk-head door herein described, that is to say, adoor consisting of two gravity actuated sections movable toward and awayfrom each other, operating mech-- anism for operating one of thesections, the said last named section operating the other section by itsmovement, mechanism for holding the sections separated and releasingmechanism therefor, whereby upon operation ICC of the releasingmechanism the door sections will come together automatically by gravityand cover the opening in the bulk-head, substantially as described.

6. In a water-tight bulk-head door, the combination of a sliding sectionb, a sliding section I), and a rod D connected to the section b, and apivoted lever G connected to the section I) and extending into the pathof movement of the rod D, whereby when the section b falls the rod Dwill co-operate with the lever G to raise the door section b,substantially as described.

7. In a water-tight bulk-head door, the combination of a section 7), asection b, the said section's sliding toward one another to cover theopening in a bulk-head, operating mechanism for the door section b, arod D co-operating with the operating mechanism for the door section b,and a connection between the door sections, all arranged so that thedoor section b shall have a greater degree of movement than the doorsection 19', substantially as described.

8. The combination of the bulk head door consisting of two sectionsmovable toward one another, a pivoted shield extending across thethreshold of the door and into the pat-h of one of the door-sections,whereby one of the door sections will co-operate with the shield toswing the same out of the path of the doorsections, substantially asdescribed.

' LEOPOLD KATZENSTEIN.

Witnesses:

HARRY M. TURK, GEO. E. MORSE.

